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ENGLISH LITERATURE

OCR 2024
GCSE English Literature
J352/02 Exploring poetry and Shakespeare

With Marking Scheme Merged

Oxford Cambridge and RSA

Monday 20 May 2024 – Morning
GCSE English Literature
J352/02 Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
Time allowed: 2 hours

You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
Do not use:
• copies of the texts

INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink
...
The question numbers
must be clearly shown
...

• All the questions in Section A have two parts, (a) and (b)
...

• Answer one question on the text you have studied in Section B
...

• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ]
...

• This document has 16 pages
...


© OCR 2024 [601/4872/X]
DC (KN) 326280/6

OCR is an exempt Charity

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BLANK PAGE

© OCR 2024

J352/02 Jun24

3
Contents Page
Section A – Poetry across time

Question

Page

Love and Relationships

1

4

Conflict

2

6

Youth and Age

3

8

Section B – Shakespeare

Questions

Page

Romeo and Juliet

4/5

10

The Merchant of Venice

6/7

11

Macbeth

8/9

12

Much Ado About Nothing

10/11

13

© OCR 2024

J352/02 Jun24

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4
Section A – Poetry across time
Answer both parts of the question on the poetry cluster you have studied
...

You should spend about 45 minutes on part (a) and 30 minutes on part (b)
...
You should consider:
•
•
•

ideas and attitudes in each poem
tone and atmosphere in each poem
the effects of the language and structure used
...

[20]
Love After Love by Derek Walcott
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

5

and say, sit here
...

You will love again the stranger who was your self
...
Give bread
...

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror
...
Feast on your life
...
How long have I been

5

alone in this house but not
alone? Married less
to the man than to the woman
silvering with the mirror
...
I am my own bride,
lifting the veil to see

15

my face
...


© OCR 2024

J352/02 Jun24

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6
2

Conflict
Read the two poems below and then answer both part (a) and part (b)
...


(a) Compare how these poems present a demand for a conflict to end
...


[20]

AND
(b) Explore in detail one other poem from your anthology which presents the wish for an end to
conflict
...

Not for the clashing of sabres,
For carnage nor for strife;
But songs to thrill the hearts of men
With more abundant life
...


10

Let me sing for little children,
Before their footsteps stray,
Sweet anthems of love and duty,
To float o’er life’s highway
...


20

Our world, so worn and weary,
Needs music, pure and strong,
To hush the jangle and discords
Of sorrow, pain, and wrong
...

© OCR 2024

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J352/02 Jun24

7
I look at the world by Langston Hughes
I look at the world
From awakening eyes in a black face–
And this is what I see:
This fenced-off narrow space
Assigned to me
...

Then let us hurry, comrades,
The road to find
...

You should spend about 45 minutes on part (a) and 30 minutes on part (b)
...
You should consider:
•
•
•

ideas and attitudes in each poem
tone and atmosphere in each poem
the effects of the language and structure used
...

[20]
Holy Thursday by William Blake
‘Twas on a holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean,
The children walking two and two in red and blue and green:
Grey-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow,
Till into the high dome of Paul’s they like Thames waters flow
...

The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs,
Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands
...

Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door
...

Old age had not destroyed
Her height and bearing
...
’
The waitress in her chat
Showed slight concern
...
’
The plastic turban gone
Her face was naked:
The twist and movement more revealed,
Her bones, a brittle grate, with
Beauty burnt away
...


© OCR 2024

J352/02 Jun24

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10
Section B – Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
Choose one question
...

EITHER
4* Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents fate in this tragedy
...


[40]

In this extract, the Chorus presents the conflict between the two houses and prepares the
audience for the death-marked love of Romeo and Juliet
...

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife
...

OR
5* ‘The death of Mercutio completely changes the play
...


© OCR 2024

J352/02 Jun24

[40]

11
The Merchant of Venice
Choose one question
...

EITHER
6* Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents Shylock’s relationship with his family and
servants
...


[40]

In this extract, Launcelot has just told Shylock about his invitation to dine with his new
master, Bassanio, and that there will be masked parties that night, as it is Carnival time
...
By Jacob’s staff, I swear
I have no mind of feasting forth to-night;
But I will go
...

I will go before, sir
...

There will come a Christian by
will be worth a Jewess’ eye
...

The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder;
Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me;
Therefore I part with him, and part with him
To one that would have him help to waste
His borrowed purse
...

Do as I bid you, shut doors after you
...


[Exit

[Exit

OR
7* How does Shakespeare present the young lovers in this play?
Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas
...

You should spend about 45 minutes on this section
...
Refer to this extract from Act 2 Scene 3 and
elsewhere in the play
...

MACDUFF
MACBETH, LENNOX
MACDUFF

MACBETH
LENNOX
MACDUFF

O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart
Cannot conceive nor name thee
...

Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord’s anointed temple, and stole thence
The life o’ th’ building
...
Do not bid me speak;
See, and then speak yourselves
...
Murder and treason!
Banquo and Donalbain! Malcolm! awake!
Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit,
And look on death itself
...


OR
9* To what extent does Shakespeare encourage the audience to feel pity for Lady Macbeth?
Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas
...

You should spend about 45 minutes on this section
...

[40]
In this extract, their friends have revealed the love of Beatrice and Benedick
...
Come, I will have thee;
but, by this light, I take thee for pity
...

Peace; I will stop your mouth
...
Dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram? No
...
In
brief, since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that
the world can say against it; and therefore never flout at me for what I have
said against it; for man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion
...

I had well hop’d thou wouldst have denied Beatrice, that I might have
cudgell’d thee out of thy single life, to make thee a double dealer; which
out of question thou wilt be, if my cousin do not look exceedingly narrowly
to thee
...
Let’s have a dance ere we are married, that
we may lighten our own hearts and our wives’ heels
...
’
To what extent do you agree with this opinion of Claudio and Hero? Explore at least two
moments from the play to support your ideas
...
OCR qualifications include
AS/A Levels, Diplomas, GCSEs, Cambridge Nationals, Cambridge Technicals, Functional Skills,
Key Skills, Entry Level qualifications, NVQs and vocational qualifications in areas such as IT,
business, languages, teaching/training, administration and secretarial skills
...
OCR is a not-for-profit organisation; any surplus made
is invested back into the establishment to help towards the development of qualifications and
support, which keep pace with the changing needs of today’s society
...
It shows the basis on which marks were awarded by examiners
...

All examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches
in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and
skills demonstrated
...

© OCR 2024

Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

MARKING INSTRUCTIONS
PREPARATION FOR MARKING
SCORIS
1
...


2
...

YOU MUST MARK 10 STANDARDISATION RESPONSES BEFORE YOU CAN BE APPROVED TO MARK LIVE SCRIPTS
...


Mark strictly to the mark scheme
...


Marks awarded must relate directly to the marking criteria
...


The schedule of dates is very important
...
If you experience problems, you must contact your Team Leader (Supervisor) without delay
...


If you are in any doubt about applying the mark scheme, consult your Team Leader by telephone, email or via the RM assessor messaging
system
...


Mark Scheme

June 2024

Crossed Out Responses
Where a candidate has crossed out a response and provided a clear alternative then the crossed out response is not marked
...

Rubric Error Responses – Optional Questions
Where candidates have a choice of question across a whole paper or a whole section and have provided more answers than requir ed, then
all responses are marked and the highest mark allowable within the rubric is given
...
(The underlying assumption is that the candidate has penalised themselves
by attempting more questions than necessary in the time allowed
...
Your comment should include: ‘only one poem considered; no attempt to compare’
...

Where a candidate has responded to part a) of one item number and part b) from a different item number, both responses should be marked
and the marks entered under the appropriate item numbers
...
You shou ld attach a
message to any script where this occurs and refer it to your Team Leader
...

Section B Extract-based
questions
Where a candidate has not moved beyond the extract, the mark awarded cannot move beyond Level 3
...
Your comment should include: ‘has not referred to wider text’
...
Where a candida te has
referred briefly to a second moment, the mark cannot move beyond Level 4
...

Longer Answer Questions (requiring a developed response)
Where candidates have provided two (or more) responses to a medium or high tariff question which only required a single (deve loped)
response and not crossed out the first response, then only the first response should be marked
...

6
...
If the
candidate has continued an answer there, then add a tick to confirm that the work has been seen
...


Award No Response (NR) if:
• there is nothing written in the answer space
Award Zero ‘0’ if:
• anything is written in the answer space and is not worthy of credit (this includes text and symbols)
...


8
...


9
...
The report should contain notes on particular strengths displayed as well as common errors or weakne sses
...


10
...

To determine the level – start at the highest level and work down until you reach the level that matches the answer
b
...


June 2024
Award mark

At bottom of level
Above bottom and either below middle or at middle of level (depending on number of marks
available)
Above middle and either below top of level or at middle of level (depending on number of
marks available)
At top of level

Annotations

Stamp

Description

Placement
Body of response

To indicate explanations and analytical comment

Left margin

AO1 Knowledge

Left margin

Personal response/interpretation

Left margin

AO1 Understanding

Left margin

AO1 Supporting detail/quotation

Left margin

AO1 Development of observation/argument/evaluation

Left margin

AO2 Good analysis of language

5

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024
Left margin

AO3 Context

Left margin

Link to wider text (Section B) or comparison (Section A)

Left margin

Not relevant to question

Left margin

Paraphrase or lifting
Omission

Body of response

Needs development/needs example/general

Left margin
Middle of page

Blank Page

6

J352/02

12
...
This mate rial includes:
•
•
•
•

the specification, especially the assessment objectives
the question paper and its rubrics
the texts which candidates have studied
the mark scheme
...

You should ensure also that you are familiar with the administrative procedures related to the marking process
...
If you are examining for the first time, please read carefully Appendix 5 Introduction to Script Marking:
Notes for New Examiners
...
Your first point of contact is your Team Leader
...

Students should be able to:

AO2

AO3
AO4

•

maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response

•

use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations
...

Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written
...


WEIGHTING OF ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
The relationship between the units and the assessment objectives of the scheme of assessment is shown in the following grid:
Component
Exploring modern and literary
heritage texts (J352/01)
Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
(J352/02)
Total

% of GCSE

Total

AO1

AO2

AO3

AO4

20

17
...
5

50

20

22
...
5

50

40

40

15

5

100

8

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

USING THE MARK SCHEME
Please study this Mark Scheme carefully
...
Question papers and Mark Schemes are developed in association with each oth er so that issues of
differentiation and positive achievement can be addressed from the very start
...
The Mark Scheme can only provide ‘best
guesses’ about how the question will work out, and it is subject to revision after we have looked at a wide range of scripts
...
The Mark Scheme will be discussed and amended at the meeting, and
administrative procedures will be confirmed
...

Before the Standardisation Meeting, you should print out and read the practice scripts, in order to gain an impression of the range of responses and
achievement that may be expected
...
Always
be prepared to use the full range of marks
...
The marks awarded for these scripts will have been agreed with
the Team Leaders and will be discussed fully at the Examiners’ Co-ordination Meeting
...
However, this indicative content does not constitute the mark scheme: it is material that candidates might use, grouped according to
each assessment objective tested by the question
...
It is hoped that candidates will respond to questions in a variety of ways and will give original and at times unexpected
interpretations of texts
...


3

Candidates’ answers must be relevant to the question
...
Beware also of answers where candidates attempt to reproduce interpr etations and concepts
that they have been taught but have only partially understood
...
This knowledge will be shown in part through the rang e and
relevance of their references to the text (bearing in mind that this is a closed text examination)
...


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J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

INSTRUCTIONS TO EXAMINERS:
A

INDIVIDUAL ANSWERS

1

The INDICATIVE CONTENT indicates the sort of material candidates might use in their answers, but be prepared to recognise and credit
unexpected and alternative approaches where they are relevant
...
In Unit J352/02, the AOs have different intended weightings in
the different sections:

Component
Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
(J352/02)
Section A: Poetry across time

Intended weightings (% of GCSE)
AO1

AO2

5

7
...
5

Part b)

6
...
25

12
...
75
20

8
...
5

Part a)
Section A: Poetry across time

AO3

Total

5
5

AO4

2
...
5

25
50

Keep in mind the intended weightings of assessment objectives targeted by the question when initially identifying the correct Level
of Response band
...

Using ‘best-fit’, adjust the mark within the band according to the dominant (if applicable) assessment objectives following the
guidelines below:
•

Highest mark: If clear evidence of all the qualities in the band descriptors is shown, the HIGHEST Mark should be awarded
...
e
...


•

Middle mark: This mark should be used for candidates who are secure in the band
...


11

J352/02
•
3

B

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Further refinement can be made by using the intervening marks, if appropriate
...
Do not reserve high band marks ‘in case’ something turns up of a quality you have not yet seen
...

TOTAL MARKS

1

Transfer the mark awarded to the front of the script
...


C

RATIONALE FOR ASSESSING AO3

Section B: Shakespeare
In this Section, candidates will have knowledge of contextual factors for their studied texts and will use this to develop th eir response to the
question
...
The questions are worded to prompt candidates
to consider relevant social, historical or cultural contexts as demonstrated in the play
...


12

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Section A, part (a): Poetry across time
Component
Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
(J352/02)
Section A: Poetry across time
Part a)
SKILLS:

Intended weightings (% of GCSE)
AO1
5

AO2
7
...
5

AO2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant terminology
where appropriate
...

Critically compare and contrast texts, referring where relevant to theme, characterisation, context (where known), style and
literary quality
...
Examiners to indicate overall mark awarded at the end of the response
...


13

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Level Descriptors: Section A, part (a): Poetry across time
Level 6
Sustained critical style in an informed personal response to both text and task
(18–20
• Detailed and sensitive analysis of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
marks)
• Consistently effective use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Sustains a coherent critical style in an informed personal response to the text showing consistently perceptive understanding (AO1)
• Textual references and quotations are precise, pertinent and skillfully interwoven (AO1)
• Achieves a sustained, interwoven comparison of texts
Level 5
Convincing critical style in a well-developed personal response to both text and task
(15–17
• Thoughtful examination of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
marks)
• Good use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Maintains a convincing critical style in a well–developed personal response to the text showing some insightful understanding (AO1)
• Textual references and quotations are well–selected and fully integrated (AO1)
• Achieves a sustained comparison of texts
Level 4
Credible critical style in a detailed personal response to both text and task
(11–14
• Some analytical comments on writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
marks)
• Competent use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Demonstrates some critical style in a detailed personal response to the text showing clear understanding (AO1)
• Relevant textual references and quotations are selected to support the response (AO1)
• Develops some key points of comparison between texts
Level 3
A reasonably developed personal response to both text and task
(7–10
• Reasonable explanation of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
marks)
• Some use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Develops a reasonably detailed personal response to the text showing understanding (AO1)
• Uses some relevant textual references and quotations to support the response (AO1)
• Makes some explicit, relevant comparisons between texts
Level 2
A straightforward personal response to both text and task
(4–6
• Simple comments on writer’s use of language, form or structure (AO2)
marks)
• Limited use of subject terminology (AO2)
• Begins to develop a straightforward personal response to the text showing some understanding (AO1)
• Gives some relevant support from the text (AO1)
• Some identification of key links between texts
Level 1
A basic response to both text and task
(1–3
• A little awareness of language, form or structure (AO2)
• Very little use of subject terminology (AO2)
marks)
• Makes a few relevant comments about the text (AO1)
• Makes limited references to the text (AO1)
• Limited, if any, attempt to make obvious links between texts
• No response or no response worthy of credit
...

You should consider:
• ideas and attitudes in each poem
• tone and atmosphere in each poem
• the effects of the language and structure used
...

AO2:
•

Both poems are structured to represent the recognition of self-knowledge and a sense of happiness with the quality of
the life they have lived: With Walcott, there is the progress through the looking forward in anticipation to the time of
understanding and release, and the use of future tense (“The time will come…you will greet…each will smile”) to the
present moment and the repetition of the imperative “sit” - almost as if the person being addressed is reluctant to accept
the new wisdom
...
How long have I been alone?”) and the answering, capturing the speaker’s self -questioning and thoughtful
revelation
...


•

Both poets use words and phrases linked by a sense of contentment, self -discovery and excitement: Walcott’s
“elation…smile…love”; and Smith’s “pleasure…turn me on…darling”
...
wine…bread”) that captures the sense of enjoyment, relish,
comfort, nourishment; in the Smith, there is the extended metaphor of being the “bride” to oneself (“wed to
myself…
...


•

AO1:
•

•

In both poems there is a sense of delight and contentment in the relationship with oneself, and in both there is a
feeling that this has come relatively late in life and after unsuccessfully looking for fulfilment outside of oneself –
Walcott has the mention of the self “whom you ignored for another”; in the Smith poem, we are told of how the
voice was “married less to the man”
...


15

June 2024
Marks
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J352/02
Question
2 a

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Indicative content
Compare how these poems present a demand for a conflict to end
...

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...


•

Use of extensive figurative language to convey the demand for conflict to end and change to happen: Harper uses a
gentle, romantic language, with a semantic cluster of worlds linked to betterment to suggest the results of a world in
which conflict has been ended, with “thrill the hearts…relax their tension…To float…To hush…grown tender”; Hughes
uses metaphors linked to oppression and imposition, with his reference to “fenced -off narrow space” and “silly walls”
...

AO1:
•

•

Both poems have a clear sense of the speaker’s own role as a consequence of the demand for change, through
the use of the first person pronoun, almost as if it were an obligation, a personal responsibility, a sense of
necessity because of the scale of the conflict and the associated problems: in Harper we hear the voice appeal,
“Let me make…Let me make…Let me sing…I would sing”); in the Hughes there is the knowledge expressed that “I
see that my own hands can make…
...

You should consider:
•
ideas and attitudes in each poem
•
tone and atmosphere in each poem
•
the effects of the language and structure used
...

AO2:
•

•

•

Both poems are structured to help present the sense of contrast between young people and old people
...
In the Kramer, the sequence of triplets with their
shortening length in each stanza suggest in general a narrowing in and a focusing on the unpalatable realities of
the old person in the young person’s world (“…slight concern…naked…burnt away…holding a plate…”)
Both poems use various linguistic devices to explore contrasts between young people and old people: in Blake, the
immeasurable potential power of young people is conveyed by the use of natural imagery (“mighty
wind…thunderings”) , while for this public occasion the sticks of the beadles are described metaphorically and
euphemistically as “wands”; in the Kramer, the harsh reality of the disconnect between young and old is captured
by the hard alliteration of “bones…brittle…Beauty burnt”, as well as the sense of outrage and disbelief of the poet
being conveyed by the tumbling enjambment
...
Roast beef today and
apple-tart”)
...

Both poems present a third person account of the differing worlds of young and old; and both poems deliver a clear
verdict on what the response of the reader should be and where our sympathies are meant to lie: in the Blake, the
reader is left feeling warned if not directly admonished by the imperative “Then cherish pity”; while, in the Kramer there
is a clear sense of outrage and challenge in the questioning of “Are these the only words each day…
...
25

6
...
5

AO1: Read, understand and respond to texts: maintain a critical style; develop an informed personal response; use textual
references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations
...

The response is to be marked holistically
...
AO1
and AO2 are equally weighted
...


Level 1
(1–3
marks)

0 marks

19

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Indicative Content Section A, part (b): Poetry across time
Question
1 b

Indicative content
Explore in detail one other poem from your anthology which presents a satisfying relationship
...

Possible poems might include: Helen Marie Williams “A Song”; Rita Dove “Flirtation”; June Jordan “Poem for my Love”’; Raymond
Antrobus “The Perseverance”; Fatima Asghar “Lullaby”; John Keats, “Bright Star”; Robert Browning, “Now”; Emily Bronte, “Love and
Friendship”; Sylvia Plath, “Morning Song”, James Fenton, “In Paris with You”; Carol Ann Duffy, “Warming Her Pearls”
...
g
...

Textual reference and quotation may demonstrate appreciation of both surface meaning and deeper implications: e
...

Browning’s use of forceful alliteration to convey the excitement, pleasure and satisfaction of the wished-for intensity of a
condensed moment (“rapture of rage…soul and sense…Merged in a moment…clutch at the core”; Plath’s movement away
from the disabling sense of inadequacy and responsibility in the last stanza of her poem towards the delight caused when the

“handful of notes…
...

AO2:
•

Appreciation of the impact of poetic conventions such as lyrical voice, choice of stanza form, figurative language, rhythm and
sound effects, e
...
how the sensual alliteration and sibilance of Dove’s persona in “Flirtation” (“rolled up her rugs…
...


•

Evaluation of the impact of language, aspects of poetic form and structure and the poet’s choice of images to
encourage the reader to reflect on how relationships can bring satisfaction: e
...
Asghar’s contentment in times of
sorrow captured by the alliterative memory of her mother’s “henna-dyed hair”, and how it could metaphorically “light the
underworld”; Duffy’s speaker reflecting with hypnotic obsessive detail on her mistress’s day and evening, both when in
her presence and when elsewhere with others, with her pearls taking on a symbolic significance suggesting the
delights (as well as the admitted difficulties) of the relationship
...

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

AO1:
•

•

Critical overview of how another poem conveys the wish for an end to conflict: e
...
Lamb’s criticism and wish for the end of
conflict achieved through a metaphor of the envious person as resembling a “rose tree” that (unaware of “its own red rose”)
shows itself to be “blind and senseless”, and more likely to “fret” and be “discontent” than to “find Some pretty flower in their
own mind”; Douglas’s unwaveringly grim figurative description of the “burst stomach live a cave”, and the irony of the
personified equipment that’s “hard and good when he’s decayed” – mocking the sacrifice of the soldier and lover

Textual reference and quotation will demonstrate understanding of both surface meaning and deeper implications, e
...

Levertov’s wish for the conflict to end, expressed through the nostalgic rhetorical questions in the first section of the poe m,
and a clear identification with the values of the victims of the Vietnam conflict (“their speech…was like a song”) as well as a
strong sense of sympathy expressed through disgust at the appalling pain suffered by the inhabitants (“children were
killed…the bones were charred”); Dickinson’s use of language characterized by a sense of pain, suffering and a wish to end

the conflict that generates it – “Winter…Hurt…scar…Despair…affliction…Death”
...
g
...


•

Evaluation of the impact of language, aspects of poetic form and structure and the poet’s choice of images to
encourage the reader to reflect on the need for conflict to end: e
...
the generational impact in Bhatt’s poem, wishing for
an end to the sense of a historical inevitability, where conflict continues to have an impact across generations, with
multiple references to time passing and yet the damage of the conflict unaltered and wide-reaching (“…nineteen-yearsold then…each day…endless…tells me this at midnight…seventy-years old…older than that”; Agard’s use of imaginary
dialogue to illustrate the ridiculous logic of those who follow a flag, and the urgent need for conflict thus generated to
end - because of the ungiving stubbornness of nationalistic fervor, and the bleakly pessimistic answers that sum up the
speaker’s sense of desperate helplessness at the strength and universality of those nationalistic feelings that so
frequently lead to conflict and produce new victims
...

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

AO1:
•

•

Critical overview of how another poem presents differences between youth and age: e
...
Clarke’s suggestions on the nature
and quality of memory of youth and its experiences, which from the perspective of age “lie under hidden water…
...

Relevant use of textual reference and quotation to demonstrate understanding of surface meaning and perhaps deeper
implications: e
...
Bronte’s symbolic bluebell and reassuring iambic trimeter that calls to mind how the viewpoint of youth is
one where the heart “is not so heavy”, where “I knew no care”, where “heart and soul were free” set against the “thankless
life” of later years full of “anxious toil and strife”; Hardy’s conveying of the difference between the “journeying boy” and the
region of adulthood that he is “not of”, through the clumsy alliteration of “rude realms” – and with the uncertainty of his

progress from his world of childhood to the “region of sin” captured by the symbolism of the “roof lamp’s oily flame”
...
g
...
some rare snowcreature’s aureole”) to capture the huge
distance and difference in experience and perceptions felt by the adult mother; Lola’s use of couplets at the start and
end of “Equilibrium” to juxtapose and capture the inevitable difference between lives just starting and lives just ending
...
g
...


22

June 2024
Marks
20

J352/02

Mark Scheme

June 2024

Section B: Shakespeare
Component
Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
(J352/02)
Section B: Shakespeare

SKILLS:

Intended weightings (% of GCSE)
AO1

AO2

8
...
75

AO3
5

Total
AO4
2
...

AO2: Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant terminology
where appropriate
...

AO4: Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation
...
Examiners to indicate overall mark awarded at the end of the response
...


23

J352/02

Mark Scheme

Level Descriptors: Section B: Shakespeare
Level 6 (31– Sustained critical style in an informed personal response to both text and task
36 marks)
• Sustains a coherent critical style in an informed personal response to the text showing consistently perceptive understanding (AO1)

Level 5 (25–
30 marks)

Level 4 (19–
24 marks)

Level 3 (13–
18marks)

Level 2 (7–
12 marks)

Level 1 (1–6
marks)

0 marks

• Textual references and quotations are precise, pertinent and skilfully interwoven (AO1)
• Detailed and sensitive analysis of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
• Consistently effective use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Shows a perceptive and sensitive understanding of how context informs evaluation of the text (AO3)
Convincing critical style in a well-developed personal response to both text and task
• Maintains a convincing critical style in a well–developed personal response to the text showing some insightful understanding (AO1)
• Textual references and quotations are well–selected and fully integrated (AO1)
• Thoughtful examination of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
• Good use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Uses a convincing understanding of context to inform the response to the text (AO3)
Credible critical style in a detailed personal response to both text and task
• Demonstrates some critical style in a detailed personal response to the text showing clear understanding (AO1)
• Relevant textual references and quotations are selected to support the response (AO1)
• Some analytical comments on writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
• Competent use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Uses clear understanding of context to inform the response to the text (AO3)
A reasonably developed personal response to both text and task
• Develops a reasonably detailed personal response to the text showing understanding (AO1)
• Uses some relevant textual references and quotations to support the response (AO1)
• Reasonable explanation of writer’s use of language, form and structure to create meanings and effects (AO2)
• Some use of relevant subject terminology (AO2)
• Makes some relevant comments about context to inform the response to the text (AO3)
A straightforward personal response to both text and task
• Begins to develop a straightforward personal response to the text showing some understanding (AO1)
• Gives some relevant support from the text (AO1)
• Simple comments on writer’s use of language, form or structure (AO2)
• Limited use of subject terminology (AO2)
• Shows some awareness of context which may be implied (AO3)
A basic response to both text and task
• Makes a few relevant comments about the text (AO1)
• Makes limited references to the text (AO1)
• A little awareness of language, form or structure (AO2)
• Very little use of subject terminology (AO2)
• Implies a little awareness of context related to the text (AO3)
• No response or no response worthy of credit
...


In the context of the Level of Demand of the question, learners spell and punctuate with considerable accuracy, and use a
considerable range of vocabulary and sentence structures to achieve general control of meaning
...


25

J352/02
Question
4
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
Romeo and Juliet
Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents fate in this tragedy
...


June 2024
Marks
36+4
SPaG

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...
They are born into conflict from ‘fatal loins’ and their love is
‘star - crossed’ so controlled by fortune rather than their own free choices
...

The sonnet form sets a pattern for later part of the play and structures love within conventions, both literary and
social ; Petrarchan conventions and tropes dominate the love poetry of the play
The two interventions of the Chorus and other moments of dramatic irony give a theatrical structure to the play’s narrative,
so that the audience are very aware of how fate and chance shape the lives of the lovers, despite their attempts to take
control of their destinies; the theatre audience are critical observers of the ‘two hours’ traffic of our stage’

The imagery of the stars is echoed later in the play: Juliet’s beauty is also celestial to Romeo so that their love seems
fated from the beginning, while the contrast of ‘rage’ and ‘love’ sets out oppositions which are sustained throughout
the staging of the scene which often alternates scenes of violence with scenes of romance
...


26

J352/02
Question
5
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
Romeo and Juliet
‘The death of Mercutio completely changes the play’
...


June 2024
Marks
36+4
SPaG

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

The exuberance of Mercutio’s language is a memorable aspect of his character, most evidently in the Queen Mab
speech, but also in his taunting of Tybalt (‘King of cats’), the love-sick Romeo and the ageing but sex-obsessed
Nurse, whom he quickly betters in repartee
Later parts of the play miss his wit and wordplay and his capacity to ‘jest at scars’
The words of his curse ‘a plague on both your houses’ quickly proves prophetic, so his death is a key structural moment
in the play, ensuring that fate prevails and tragedy becomes the dominant genre; as long as the tone of the play remained
comic there was a chance that mistakes and misfortunes might be happily resolved, and the play could end in marriage

rather than death
...


27

J352/02
Question
6
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
The Merchant of Venice
Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents Shylock’s relationship with his family and servants
...

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

His preoccupation with ‘thrift’ has different consequences for each: he is happy to lose someone he sees as a waster

(although an audience find him amusing), while determined to treat Jessica like a precious possession
...

•

•

AO2:
•
•
•
AO3:
•
•

Candidates could extend their responses to look at Launcelot’s comic soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 (‘the Jew is the very devil
incarnation’); Jessica’s exchange with him in Act 2 Scene 3 (‘our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil/ Didst rob it of
some taste of tediousness’) when she expresses how she is ‘asham’d to be my father’s child’; Launcelot’s assistance in
Jessica’s elopement with Lorenzo; Shylock’s tragi-comic response to Tubal’s ‘news from Genoa’ in Act 3 Scene 5, with its
serious consequences for Antonio; and the contrasting happiness of Jessica, Launcelot and Lorenzo in Belmont in Act 3

Scene 5 ‘the joys of heaven here on earth’ and Act 5 Scene 1 (“look how the floor of heaven/ Is thick inlaid with
patines of bright gold’
...
I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys’ – to suggest that he is not
simply materialistic, or to look ahead to the consequences of the Venetian court, at Antonio’s prompting, assigning
his legacy ‘unto the gentleman/That lately stole his daughter’ and forcing him to become a Christian
...
Later, in Act 4, he expresses his hatred of the ‘woollen bagpipe’
...

Animalistic comparisons show how much he despises Launcelot and the Christians: ‘drones hive not with me’
...
They might also be conscious of servant/master
stereotypes in stage comedy
...
There are tragic elements to Shylock’s fate, and his paranoia proves justified
...

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

AO2:
•
•
•

As a comedy, the form of the play prioritises wit, fun and humour, and mocks the serious, the outsiders and those
who put barriers between young people and the fulfilment of their desires
The structure of the play is determined by the need to bring couples together and culminate in a sequence of marriages
The humour of the play is certainly on the side of the young lovers: Bassanio’s extravagant language, Portia’s emotional
intelligence, Jessica’s evidently sincere and passionate love for Lorenzo and Gratiano’s more self-deprecating remarks all
put the audience on their side, while the fairytale manipulations of casket, bond and ring plots all depend on youthful

ingenuity and improvisation
...


29

Marks
36+4
SPaG

J352/02
Question
8
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
Macbeth
Explore how horror is presented in the play presented
...


June 2024
Marks
36+4
SPaG

Please bear in mind that other content may be equally valid and should be credited
...

AO2:
•

Although the language of the scene becomes highly rhetorical, initially Macduff is literally lost for words, repeating ‘horro r’
three times and struggling to name the ‘most sacrilegious murder’ which is an offence against God and against life itself

•

Lennox’s questions show his struggle to understand; the dramatic irony is that Macbeth of course knows only too
well what Macduff means
The allusions to the ‘anointed temple’ and to ‘a new Gorgon’ make references to both the Biblical and the classical,
in characteristic Renaissance tropes, both of which explain why he struggles for words to express a horror which is
powerfully associated with ‘the great doom’s image’, the apocalyptical painting of the end of the world and day of
judgement; the provocative suggestion is that Malcolm and Banquo have to imitate the walking dead in order to
confront this unspeakable premonition of the end of time
...


30

J352/02
Question
9
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
Macbeth
To what extent does Shakespeare encourage the audience to feel pity for Lady Macbeth? Explore at least two moments
from the play to support your ideas
...

AO1:
•

•

•

Candidates are likely to provide a variety of responses to this question: Lady Macbeth initially appears to be a
deeply unsympathetic character who calls on and appears familiar with the spirits of darkness, leading some to ask
if she is in league with the witches; she appears to choose to abandon her femininity and capacity for remorse in
order to force Macbeth to carry out the murder; she speaks to him in emasculating terms accusing him of not being
a man in both Act 1 Scene 6 and in response to the appearance of Banquo’s ghost in Act 3 Scene 4; she even says
she would kill her own child rather than break the promise to murder Duncan
However, there are early signs that she is not as strong as she appears: her ‘dauntless mettle’ does not allow her to
go through with the murder herself (‘Had he not resembled My father as he slept I had done’t’), her fainting fit may
not be a fake, and she is as unhappy and unsettled as Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 2 (‘Nought’s had, all’s spent/Where
our desire is got without content’)
We can begin to pity her when Macbeth no longer treats her as his ‘dearest partner of greatness’ but says ‘be innocent of
the knowledge dearest chuck’ as she is no longer privy to his secrets, and although she reasserts her dominance in the
banqueting scene, she is a broken and passive figure thereafter who clearly internalises a deep sense of guilt (‘All the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’) before taking her own life and dying unlamented
...

Structurally, Lady Macbeth dominates the early parts of the play but fades away afterwards, so she is a catalyst for
Macbeth’s decision to ‘catch the nearest way’ but her descent into madness lacks the self -consciousness of
Macbeth’s awareness of moral decline, sterility and lack of fulfilment

•
AO3:
•
•

Candidates will be likely to explore the ways in which Lady Macbeth defies the stereotypes of female passivity and
submission in a patriarchal society
...


31

June 2024
Marks
36+4
SPaG

J352/02
Question
10
*

Mark Scheme
Indicative content
Much Ado About Nothing
How does Shakespeare present surprises in this play? Refer to this extract from Act 5 Scene 4 and elsewhere in the
play
...

AO1:
•

•

This extract from the final scene show Benedick and Beatrice amusingly confronted with the reality of their love,
although they continue to joke about it until the final kiss; Benedick reviews the play’s developments and concludes
that ‘man is a giddy thing’ – the unfolding drama has had plenty of incidents to prove the truth of this, but the
concluding reconciliations and dance bring an end to the play’s conflicts, suggesting characters have developed the
resilience to overcome such surprises, and are now true to themselves and their emotions
There are plenty of examples of the surprising and disruptive for candidates to refer to and they are more effective
because the initial presentation of characters in Act 1 is conventional and close to stereotype: it is surprising that
Benedick is so hurt by Beatrice’s insults in Act 2 Scene 1, that both fall so easily for their friends’ setup in Act 2 Scene 3
and Act 3 Scene 1, and that Claudio believes so quickly in Hero’s disloyalty in Act 3 Scene 2 and that Dogberry and
Verges manage to effect an arrest but are unable to communicate their news in time to save Hero from insult; the shock
disruption of the wedding in Act 4 Scene 1 shows the power of surprise, and several characters behave in ways the
audience might not have expected, including Leonato and Benedick, before the power of surprise is used to deepen

•
AO2:
•
•
•
AO3:
•
•

Claudio’s repentance and show Benedick is more committed to behaving with integrity than male solidarity
the way the play concludes is predictable, but makes strong theatrical use of the revelation of what is unexpected (or
surprising) to at least some of the characters
...

Much of the humour of the play comes from unexpected reversals of gender expectations and loyalties, which only work
because society in Shakespeare’s Sicily is so conventional, making Beatrice’s wit and Hero’s vindication surprising

There are also surprises in the play’s social hierarchy: the worst villains of the play are gentlemen while the watch
prove to be unexpected heroes; Leonato’s first instincts are to follow the expectations of his social class, but,
encouraged by Antonio, he later shows unexpected strength in defending the honour of his daughter
...
To what extent do you agree with this opinion of Hero and Claudio?
Explore at least two moments from the play to support your ideas
...

AO1:
•
•
•

Hero and Claudio are perhaps not strongly drawn characters: both are shy, have little to say and let others speak for
them in the early parts of the play; candidates might be quite critical of Hero’s passivity, or the way Claudio recruits
his friends to do his wooing for him
They begin to be more engaging and alert to the realities of life in the humorous scenes when they set up Benedick
and Beatrice: comedy seems to free them up and joking with others removes their shyness
Both are essentially victims: Claudio too quickly believes Don John’s slanders , and Hero is too shocked to defend
herself; however, she gains agency through the drama her friends enact (ironically by pretending to have died), and both
Claudio’s initial bravado when challenged by Benedick and his repentance seem genuine and show he is confronting the
reality of life, so there is plenty of evidence to suggest that both are much stronger and more capable of coping with what

life might throw at them by the end of the play
...


Candidates might refer to the gender stereotypes of the period which both characters conform to: Hero is a virginal
and inexperienced bride and Claudio a gallant and decorated military hero with very little experience of or ability to
understand and communicate with women
The separate lives and education of men and women has shaped the characters of Hero and Claudio: she has lived
a sheltered, chaperoned and domestic life with little contact with men of her own age; he has lived the in the
masculine world of a courtier and soldier, and consequently thinks of women as weak and fickle; perhaps neither
should be blamed for initially behaving in stereotypical ways, but praised for showing the ability to overcome
expectations, and to listen to their friends

---